News / National
Canaan Banana unmasked
12 Dec 2018 at 12:52hrs | Views
The Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Communist Party has questioned the role of Former President of Zimbabwe Canaan Sodindo Banana during the Gukurahundi genocide that left an estimated 20 000 Zimbabweans dead.
Ngqabutho was commenting to a number of social media users who were exhaulting Banana as an unsung hero in Zimbabwe.
"So anyone who had a fallout with Robert Mugabe is a hero? Or anyone who was in government from 1980 - 1987 is a hero?" Mabhena asked." What did Rev Banana do when we were under curfew in 1984 in his home village?
" Did he come down from Harare to protect us or he stayed in Harare? What did the late Rev Banana do when the late Enos Nkala came to Esibomvu to insult us?
"What did Rev Banana do when Mark Dube organised the killing of missionaries at Adams farm? What infrastructure did Banana build in his village when he was President of the Republic of Zimbabwe? Pls educate me about his heroism."
Canaan is know as the first Ndebele President of a free Zimbabwe. He presided over the country during the Gukurahundi era.
His important earlier contribution to the struggle to overthrow the white supremacist regime of Ian Smith were overshadowed by the scandal that engulfed his final years: his trial and conviction on charges of sodomy which ended his career destroyed his marriage and ruined his reputation.
Even during his years in office, extravagant rumours about Banana's private life had circulated in Harare. The tales, however, only became public in 1998 during a sensational court case. Jefta Dube, a 36-year-old policeman who had served as Banana's bodyguard, was on trial for the murder of a colleague.
Dube testified that in the 1980s Banana, then President, had seduced him at the State House in Harare, having laced his drink with drugs after dinner one night. When he awoke the following morning Dube said he found himself half-naked covered by a duvet on the carpet. Standing over him was a smiling head of state who informed him, "We have helped ourselves." There followed, Dube claimed, a coerced homosexual relationship that lasted three years. The bodyguard claimed he had shot his colleague dead after the latter had taunted him as "Banana's wife".
Ngqabutho was commenting to a number of social media users who were exhaulting Banana as an unsung hero in Zimbabwe.
"So anyone who had a fallout with Robert Mugabe is a hero? Or anyone who was in government from 1980 - 1987 is a hero?" Mabhena asked." What did Rev Banana do when we were under curfew in 1984 in his home village?
" Did he come down from Harare to protect us or he stayed in Harare? What did the late Rev Banana do when the late Enos Nkala came to Esibomvu to insult us?
"What did Rev Banana do when Mark Dube organised the killing of missionaries at Adams farm? What infrastructure did Banana build in his village when he was President of the Republic of Zimbabwe? Pls educate me about his heroism."
Canaan is know as the first Ndebele President of a free Zimbabwe. He presided over the country during the Gukurahundi era.
His important earlier contribution to the struggle to overthrow the white supremacist regime of Ian Smith were overshadowed by the scandal that engulfed his final years: his trial and conviction on charges of sodomy which ended his career destroyed his marriage and ruined his reputation.
Even during his years in office, extravagant rumours about Banana's private life had circulated in Harare. The tales, however, only became public in 1998 during a sensational court case. Jefta Dube, a 36-year-old policeman who had served as Banana's bodyguard, was on trial for the murder of a colleague.
Dube testified that in the 1980s Banana, then President, had seduced him at the State House in Harare, having laced his drink with drugs after dinner one night. When he awoke the following morning Dube said he found himself half-naked covered by a duvet on the carpet. Standing over him was a smiling head of state who informed him, "We have helped ourselves." There followed, Dube claimed, a coerced homosexual relationship that lasted three years. The bodyguard claimed he had shot his colleague dead after the latter had taunted him as "Banana's wife".
Source - Byo24News
